https://twitter.com/SInow/status/925935366967881730
The offices of Sports Illustrated across America are probably doing keg stands as I write this, as their outlandish prediction back in 2014 came true. Three and a half years ago, SI editor Ben Reiter boldly predicted the Houston Astros to win the World Series, and plastered the proclamation on the its cover. This was at a time when the Astros were total dogshit. Proof’s in the pudding:
2011: 56-106
2012: 55-107
2013: 51-111
2014: 70-92
…
2017: 101-61
The prophecy becomes more freaky when the player SI used to grace the cover was the team’s future World Series MVP, George Springer. In June 2014, when the issue was released, Springer had made his Major League debut a mere two months prior.
At the time, the Astros were under a new, more savvy management regime and SI’s Ben Reiter took a gamble on the team’s approach to meshing analytics and traditional scouting.
Now, for the first time in the team’s 55-year history, the Astros are World Champions. And that SI cover is fetching a boatload of money on e-Bay.
eBay
Sports Illustrated is riding the wave…
We’ll see how that pays off.